Interesting Action/Adventure I am playing - American McGee's Alice

Hollister Man · Fri 02/07/2004 15:45:42

Wow, I thought it would be another hack and slash borefactory, but this is really amazing. It is basically a sequel, if you will, to Alice in wonderland. Not the Disnified version, but the original opium laced story. It is just as strange, but much darker.

I get kinda 'CD cover'ish below, but its pretty accurate. I have played it for a few hours now, and every new level knocks me over. The voice acting is superb, and the gameplay is pretty enticing. Alice's slaying of the card-soldiers is pretty gruesome, but this is just a dream, remember?

Poor Alice is caught in a housefire that kills her parents and family, leaving her near death. The stress causes her to retreat into her mind, or so her psychiatrist at the Rutledge Private Clinic and Asylum believes.

Either way, she begins an adventure in wonderland once more. It has been twisted, terribly dark now, by the Red Queen. Alice must save wonderland if she is ever to wake up from her nightmare.

All her old friends are there, the rabbit and cheshire cat appear early on. Rabbit has been telling people Alice is their saviour, and Cat, he's just there to help her on her way. Even they have not avoided the demented bending of wonderland.

I like it so far, but I've only made it as far as the Fortress of Doors

Migs · Fri 02/07/2004 15:53:12

This game is definitely one of my favorites, and I normally don't like FPSs.Ã,Â The level design in this game is some of the most creative I've ever seen.Ã,Â And the Cheshire Cat is so awesome.

American McGee is working on a Wizard of Oz game right now.

Alynn · Fri 02/07/2004 19:03:26

They have that game for 10 bucks at Wal-Mart (US department store) and I haven't bought it cuz I havent heard a damn thing about it... but I think when I get back from Iraq I'll go out to get it... sounds fun... GORE!!!!

GarageGothic · Fri 02/07/2004 19:16:02

I saw it at the Virgin Megastore in London the other day - you could get three budget-release games for 10 pounds or something like that, I wanted Alice and Thief 2 but couldn't find a third one, so I put it back on the shelf. Maybe I should take another look'at the Virgin Megastore at the airport when I'm going home.

ScottDoom · Fri 02/07/2004 21:45:06

Quote from: Migs on Fri 02/07/2004 15:53:12
This game is definitely one of my favorites, and I normally don't like FPSs.Ã,Â

You can see your character in that game, therefore it's not a FPS (First-Person-Shooter). It's a third-person action game.

But yeah, I've heard a lot of good stuff about that game, but it's been out for maybe a little less than 4 years.

If you like Alice, you should try Beyond Good & Evil. It's way on the other side of the map when it comes to atmosphere (Alice being bloody and evil, Beyond Good & Evil being cartoony), but Beyond Good & Evil has some fun gameplay, puzzles, and combat. And if you like Beyond Good & Evil, try Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as it was made using the same engine as Beyond Good & Evil.

Pesty · Sat 03/07/2004 00:25:55

I played it all the way through soon after it came out. It was quite fun. Wonderful style and art and the gameplay was fun. I should dig it out and play it again.

MrColossal · Sat 03/07/2004 01:10:20

I have a question for the people who played it, in the demo the Chesire Cat's teeth disappeared first when he faded out which is totally awkward and wrong... Did they fix that in the whole game?

also:

http://www.oldmanmurray.com/longreviews/56.html

I love this review

Domino · Sat 03/07/2004 02:58:13

I own this game, but my computer had a hard time running it. So when i get a better computer, i will reinstall it and play it again.

I at least got to see the first level, and the graphics are really sweet.

[Cameron] · Sat 03/07/2004 04:27:08

American McGee's Alice is a brilliant game, i have a copy and loved it. Didn't McGee work on Doom?

Alynn · Sat 03/07/2004 05:25:21

I played a demo of Beyond Good and Evil... it looks sweet as hell, and was fun to play... I'll have to go get that too... I dunno if I should for PC or for my PS 2 though

Hollister Man · Sat 03/07/2004 06:47:45

Rather than fading out last or anything, Evil, they fade in and out in a cycle. (I suppose they might fade out first by coincidence) You rarely get a chance to watch him fade out up close, so I hadn't even noticed. Wasn't that a feature introduced by Disney anyway (Alice is even a brunette in the game, so they were trying to part with Disney precedent.) It is amazing how close the voice acting for Alice (the character) was to the Disney actress, though. Its strange to hear her say "Grown a bit mangy Cat, I see." at the beginning. lol

I have played Tomb Raider, as well as several of the more hyped FPS games, and never found much interest in them. Half life was pretty good, and I am looking forward to HL2. I have never played anything quite Alice. Being 4 years old, its still amazing to look at IMO. I think the Greek letters and skull accents on her costume were a bad idea, considering she is supposed to be the heroine.

So far, the 'menu screen' has struck me as the most frightening thing. Alice sitting on a 19th century hospital bed clutching a singed and tattered rabbit, with eyes *too* wide for reality. The image is still, but they added animated 'highlights' from lightning, and it adds some eerie feeling to the image. Makes me cringe imagining the 'treatments' the mentally unbalanced were given back then. O.o

MrColossal · Sat 03/07/2004 09:09:45

by evil i take it you mean me, eh Hollister Man?

and no, the chesire cat's grin was a part of the books.

Hollister Man · Sat 03/07/2004 22:39:37

oops,

sorry, I was writing at work. Why did I think that I wonder?

Capn MucousArts · Sun 04/07/2004 13:48:39

umm...Migs my man...im afraid the Wizard of Oz game from McGee aint comin anymore...Atari's called off the deal...its cancelled.

http://www.gamershell.com/news_bOZbCancelled.shtml
go here^^^

Pesty · Sun 04/07/2004 15:21:19

Quote from: Hollister Man on Sat 03/07/2004 22:39:37
oops, ;)Ã,Â sorry, I was writing at work.Ã,Â Why did I think that I wonder?

Because Eric is EEEEVIL!

Migs · Tue 06/07/2004 15:19:42

Quote from: Capn MucousArts on Sun 04/07/2004 13:48:39
umm...Migs my man...I'm afraid the Wizard of Oz game from McGee aint comin anymore...Atari's called off the deal...its cancelled.
Ã,Â http://www.gamershell.com/news_bOZbCancelled.shtml
Ã,Â Ã,Â go here^^^

Thanks for letting me know. How disappointing.

Capn MucousArts · Tue 06/07/2004 16:55:00

hmm...funny...but we still got some hope migs...American McGee and "MercurySteamEntertaintment" r working on a new Project...ScrapLand!!
for more info about the game--->http://www.americanmcgee.com/blosxom.cgi/home/
ENJOY!!

Ozwalled · Wed 07/07/2004 07:09:23

I thought about Alice after having played it, and IMO, it's not so great a game so much as it is visually stunning. Game-wise, I really don't think there's all that much about it that was so great.

Still, it's well worth playing for the visuals alone. There's some weird and wonderful stuff going on in that game. If you can find it on the cheap, I'd say play it for sure.

Captain Mostly · Wed 07/07/2004 13:41:04

It's an impressive game from a visual perspective. But I was constantly irritated by a deep lack of understanding of the books that was displayed.

Mind you, it's fasionable to mis-understnad the books these days. The idea of it being "opium fuled" and nightmarish is enormously over-interpreting. They're amazingly weird books, but they weren't written under the influence of any drugs, and they're not particularly dark really.

People are always trying to make Alice in Wonderland somehow dark and gothic when it's not.

Mind you, the game doesn't take away the books, and it's not like anyone will re-write the novels to match the game or anything. So I guess it doesn't matter that an American (who must be pretty damn amazing to have his name put in the game's title! even the Mario chap hasn't done that yet!) didn't "get" it. And it's not a bad game by any streatch of the imagination...

I guess I'm just a little precious about the books (which are quite brilliant in their simple charm) and get cross when people want to capitalise on a general mis-understanding of them...

Now the moomins: They WERE scary and gothic!

Migs · Wed 07/07/2004 20:40:49

Quote from: Captain Mostly on Wed 07/07/2004 13:41:04It's an impressive game from a visual perspective. But I was constantly irritated by a deep lack of understanding of the books that was displayed.

Mind you, it's fasionable to mis-understnad the books these days. The idea of it being "opium fuled" and nightmarish is enormously over-interpreting. They're amazingly weird books, but they weren't written under the influence of any drugs, and they're not particularly dark really.

Who, praytell, claimed this?

Quote from: Captain Mostly on Wed 07/07/2004 13:41:04People are always trying to make Alice in Wonderland somehow dark and gothic when it's not.

I know.Ã,Â I run into at least two people a day doing precisely this.Ã,Â "I'm making a gothic version of Alice in Wonderland!" they blurt out, as they thrust character sketches of a deformed Cheshire Cat in my face.

Quote from: Captain Mostly on Wed 07/07/2004 13:41:04Mind you, the game doesn't take away the books, and it's not like anyone will re-write the novels to match the game or anything. So I guess it doesn't matter that an American (who must be pretty damn amazing to have his name put in the game's title! even the Mario chap hasn't done that yet!) didn't "get" it. And it's not a bad game by any streatch of the imagination...

I guess I'm just a little precious about the books (which are quite brilliant in their simple charm) and get cross when people want to capitalise on a general mis-understanding of them...

Apparently you are incapable of recognizing and appreciating artistic creativity, and your nonsensical rambling makes absolutely no sense to me.Ã,Â American McGee's Alice is an intentionally dark twist to a popular story, not an attempt at faithfully replicating it in game form.Ã,Â I think you entirely missed the point of the game, and I seriously doubt you've even read Lewis Carroll's books at all if you think American McGee's Alice was an attempt at a 1:1 version of it.